Oklahoma Estate Planning Tools: the Last Will and Testament

Jane Austen’s Last Will and Testament

Todays “Tools” post is about the Oklahoma Last Will and Testament. Simply summed up, the Last Will and Testament is . . .

. . . your written decisions on who to give your property to, who will manage the process of giving away your property, in writing and signed and witnessed according to Oklahoma law so that it is legal and binding.

The Will is created while you are alive to control what happens to your things once you have passed away. If you do not have a Will in Oklahoma, the State of Oklahoma decides how your things will be distributed. The distribution might not always turn out like you would expect it to. You can read more about that here.

If a trust is used, you still need a Will. Your Will is a simple document, which would have any probate property transferred to your trust. This Will is often described as a “pour-over will” because any property that is not already in the trust at the time of death pours-over to the trust. Probate property is your property which for some reason is not held in either of your trusts or which does not transfer outside of probate (such as by joint tenancy).

Check back for the next post on Oklahoma estate planning titled “The Last Will and Testament” and to find out more about estate planning listen to my podcast “Estate Planning Demystified“.